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Subjects

Abstract

Recent excavations at the early Middle Pleistocene site of Mata Menge in the So’a Basin of central Flores, Indonesia, have yielded hominin fossils1 attributed to a population ancestral to Late Pleistocene Homo floresiensis2. Here we describe the age and context of the Mata Menge hominin specimens and associated archaeological findings. The fluvial sandstone layer from which the in situ fossils were excavated in 2014 was deposited in a small valley stream around 700 thousand years ago, as indicated by 40Ar/39Ar and fission track dates on stratigraphically bracketing volcanic ash and pyroclastic density current deposits, in combination with coupled uranium-series and electron spin resonance dating of fossil teeth. Palaeoenvironmental data indicate a relatively dry climate in the So’a Basin during the early Middle Pleistocene, while various lines of evidence suggest the hominins inhabited a savannah-like open grassland habitat with a wetland component. The hominin fossils occur alongside the remains of an insular fauna and a simple stone technology that is markedly similar to that associated with Late Pleistocene H. floresiensis.

van den Bergh, G. D.The Late Neogene Elephantoid-Bearing Faunas of Indonesia and their Palaeozoogeographic Implications. A Study of the Terrestrial Faunal Succession of Sulawesi, Flores and Java, including Evidence for Early Hominid Dispersal East of Wallace’s Line (Scripta Geologica 117, Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, 1997)

van den Bergh, G. D.et al.Taphonomy of Stegodon florensis remains from the early Middle Pleistocene archaeological site Mata Menge, Flores, Indonesia. Abstract book of the VIth International Conference on Mammoths and their relatives. S.A.S.G., Special Volume 102, 207–208 (2014)

Westgate, J. A. & Pearce, N. J. G.Quaternary tephrochronology of the Toba tuffs and its significance with respect to archaeological studies in peninsular India, in Issues in Indian Archaeology: Prehistory to Early History (ed. Korisettar, R. ) (Primus Books New Delhi, in press)

Acknowledgements

The So’a Basin project was funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery grant (DP1093342) awarded to M.J.M. and A.B., and directed by M.J.M. (2010–2013) and G.v.d.B. (2013–2015). The Geological Survey Institute (GSI) of Bandung, Indonesia, provided additional financial and technical support. G.v.d.B.’s research was also supported by ARC Future Fellowship FT100100384. M.W.M. was funded by ARC grant DP1096558. Quadlab is funded by a grant to M.S. from the Villum Foundation. M.D. received funding from a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), awarded under REA Grant Agreement No. PIOF-GA-2013-626474. B.V.A. received funding from a Victoria University of Wellington Science Faculty Research Grant (201255). For permission to undertake this research, we thank the Indonesian State Ministry of Research and Technology (RISTEK), the former Heads of the Geological Agency (R. Sukyiar and Surono), the successive directors of the GSI (S. Permanandewi, Y. Kusumahbrata (formerly) and A. Pribadi) and Bandung’s Geology Museum (S. Baskoro and O. Abdurahman). Local research permissions were issued by the provincial government of East Nusa Tenggara at Kupang, and the Ngada and Nage Keo administrations. We also thank the Ngada Tourism and Culture and Education Departments for their ongoing support. In addition, we acknowledge support and advice provided by I. Setiadi, D. Pribadi, and Suyono (GSI), the Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional (ARKENAS) in Jakarta, and J. T. Solo of the provincial Culture and Tourism office in Kupang. Scientific and technical personnel involved in the fieldwork included: T. Suryana, S. Sonjaya, H. Oktariana, I. Sutisna, A. Rahman, S. Bronto, E. Sukandar, A. Gunawan, Widji, A. T. Hascaryo, Jatmiko, S. Wasisto, R. A. Due, S. Hayes, Y. Perston, B. Pillans, K. Grant, M. Marsh, D. McGahan, A. M. Saiful, B. Burhan, L. Siagian, D. Susanti, P. D. Moi, M. Tocheri, A. R. Chivas, and A. Cahyana. F. Wesselingh identified gastropod remains. Sidarto (GSI) provided digital elevation model data used in Fig. 1b. Geodetic surveys and measurements were conducted by E. E. Laksmana, A. Rahmadi, Y. Sofyan, and G. Hazell. J. Noblett constructed the Mata Menge 3D model, based on drone aerial photographs taken by K. Riza, T. P. Ertanto, and M. Faizal. The research team was supported by ~100 excavators and support personnel from the Ngada and Nage Keo districts. We thank L. Kinsley, Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, for assistance with mass spectrometric measurements.

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Editorial Summary

Second site for Homo floresiensis

Until recently, remains of the diminutive Homo floresiensis had been found at a single locality only — in Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores in Indonesia. A pair of papers published in this issue introduces new fossil findings from a second site on Flores, at Mata Menge, to the east of Liang Bua. Gerrit van den Bergh et al. describe a mandible fragment and isolated teeth from several individuals. The remains are as small as, or smaller than, those from Liang Bua, but, at 700,000 years old, are much older. Their morphology supports derivation from Asian Homo erectus. Adam Brumm et al. present the stratigraphic, chronological, environmental and faunal context of the Mata Menge site. The hominins lived some 700,000 years ago in what was then hot, dry savannah grassland, though with a strong wetland component. Stone tools found with the fossils are simple and very like those associated with the much younger Liang Bua H. floresiensis.